‘The Bad Guys’ Steals the No. 1 Box Office Spot With a $25 Million Opening

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the newest timeline-altering tentpole in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, captured a huge $265 million in its international box office debut.Those mighty ticket sales represent the second-biggest opening weekend overseas in pandemic times. Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” still stands as the highest-grossing COVID-era debut with $340 million internationally.The second “Doctor Strange” film, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the goatee-rocking sorcerer, generated $185 million in North America over the weekend, bringing its global tally to a massive $450 million.

It’s official: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is massive.

Though that’s below the $202 million opening that industry estimates had following the MCU film’s $90 million opening day, it is still at the top of the $170-185 million estimate that Disney posted. Globally, “Doctor Strange 2” has earned an opening of $450 million, second only to “Spider-Man: No Way Home” for worldwide openings since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

despite poor reviews.The star-studded flick, with Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange, is now projected to top $200 million in US sales through Sunday, well ahead of the $160 million to $180 million previously expected, according to Variety.“Dr.

J. Kim Murphy The doctor is in.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is massive.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” is now within reach of a benchmark that box office analysts were only whispering about before its release: a $200 million-plus opening. After earning a jaw-dropping $90 million on opening day, including $36 million from Thursday previews, the 28th Marvel Cinematic Universe film is now projected by industry estimates to earn a $202 million weekend launch.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaThis sorcerer still reigns supreme.Disney and Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” earned a formidable $36 million in Thursday previews, setting the stage for what could be a massive $175 million-plus debut this weekend. This ranks as the eighth largest preview performance ever, behind “Avengers: Infinity War’s” $39 million in 2018.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the latest timeline-bending installment in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, looks to start the summer movie season with a sizzle.The comic book movie — the second standalone superhero adventure to spotlight Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Stephen Strange — is projected to collect a mighty $160 million to $180 million when it opens in 4,400 North American theaters over the weekend. Some box office experts believe that excitement for all things Marvel could propel the film’s three-day tally closer to $200 million.

Of the three non-franchise films that came out last weekend, “The Bad Guys” had the strongest hold with just a 33% drop from its $23.9 million opening weekend, putting the film on its way to crossing $100 million at the worldwide box office. Such a hold indicates that “The Bad Guys” is getting traction among families as they continue to return to theaters this spring, and that could allow it to leg out through May as counterprogramming to “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” is in second with $11.4 million in its fourth weekend, passing the first “Sonic” to become the highest grossing video game adaptation in domestic box office history with $160.9 million grossed and over $300 million grossed worldwide.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAnother weekend, another new Liam Neeson action-thriller in theaters.“Memory,” the actor’s nth COVID-era caper to play on the big screen, debuted over the weekend to $3.1 million from 2,555 North American cinemas. Its eighth-place finish is a weak result, but one that’s close to Neeson’s recent theatrical releases like “Blacklight” ($3.6 million debut), “Honest Thief” ($3.6 million debut) and “The Marksman” ($3.1 million debut).Since Open Road Films and Briarcliff Entertainment’s “Memory” is the only new nationwide release, last weekend’s champion “The Bad Guys” topped the box office again.

The Bad Guys” has risen above pre-release projections to snatch the No. 1 spot at the box office from Warner Bros.’ “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” with a $24 million opening weekend from 4,003 theaters.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterUniversal’s kid-friendly caper “The Bad Guys” pulled off a heist for the ages, capturing the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office.The animated comedy has collected $24 million from 4,009 North American theaters in its debut, enough to take the crown from “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.” In its second weekend of release, the latest chapter in the “Harry Potter” prequel series plummeted to third place with $14 million, a troubling sign for the Warner Bros.’ Wizarding film franchise.“The Bad Guys” may have towered over the competition, but it was not the only newcomer to movie theater marquees.

The latest big-screen creation of DreamWorks Animation topped opening night totals for new flicks from star actors Alexander Skarsgard and Nicolas Cage.“The Bad Guys” — an animated romp about five over-the-hill anthropomorphic criminals — raked in $8 million in ticket sales on April 22, its first day in theaters.Skarsgard’s Viking revenge tale “The Northman,” meanwhile, came in at number two at the box office, earning $5 million.Last week’s box office winner — “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” — dropped to number three.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“The Northman,” a blood-drenched viking epic from director Robert Eggers, pillaged $1.35 million in Thursday previews, while “The Bad Guys,” a kid-friendly spin on the heist genre, earned $1.15.Those aren’t the only new wide releases in town; they will also have to fend off “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” a very meta exercise in which Nicolas Cage stars as himself. It picked up $835,000 in Thursday previews.Universal’s indie label Focus released “The Northman,” which is projected to earn $10 million to $15 million in its first three days of release.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” welcomed a boost in ticket sales at the international box office, though the third installment in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series already seems to be running out of steam.Over the weekend, “Fantastic Beasts 3” added $71.7 million from 66 foreign markets, taking the film’s international tally to $150.4 million. After debuting to a less-than-enchanting $43 million in North America, “The Secrets of Dumbledore” has collected $193.4 million to date.Along with United States and Canada, the Warner Bros.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the third chapter in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series, collected a muted $43 million in its domestic box office debut.In pandemic times, those ticket sales were enough to lead this weekend’s box office charts and land one of the biggest North American openings in 2022. But it’s also a sign that magic is in short supply for J.K. Rowling’s lucrative and ever-expanding Wizarding World.

Though that result is on par with the $41 million opening of fellow Warner release “Dune” last October and the $44 million opening of Sony’s “Uncharted” in February, it is down 31% from the $62 million opening of the last “Fantastic Beasts” film, the ill-received “Crimes of Grindelwald” in 2018. Audience metrics for “Secrets of Dumbledore” have been somewhat better than for “Grindelwald” with a B+ on CinemaScore to go with a 4/5 from general audiences on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak and an 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

While industry estimates have the film potentially stretching to $44 million, which would equal what Sony’s “Uncharted” opened to in February, “Fantastic Beasts 3” had double the reported production budget at around $200 million. More importantly, the estimated opening is substantially down from the $62 million opening of “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ in 2018, which itself was down from the $74 million launch of the first “Fantastic Beasts” in 2016.

J. Kim Murphy While the domestic box office is showing signs of life after an age of COVID lockdowns, it seems that not every film franchise is being buoyed by a return of theatergoers.”Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” Warner Bros.’ latest entry in its prequel series to the “Harry Potter” franchise, is off to a somewhat rocky start, projected to land a record low debut for a Wizarding World film.The third “Fantastic Beasts” earned $20.1 million on Friday and Thursday night previews from 4,753 North American locations, which marks the lowest opening day figure for a “Potter”-adjacent film.